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Everything You Need to Know About Edmonton: August 2, 2013

The High Level Bridge is that much closer to lighting up Edmonton’s skyline once again after donations tipped the amount raised for the project past $1 million. Fundraising for Light the Bridge, a citizen-led campaign to adorn the city’s landmark with 60,000 LED bulbs to mark its centennial, began at the end of May.

There might be a lot less students at post-secondary institutions in Edmonton. Institutions won’t know until the last minute whether international students expected to start in September will be delayed because of a strike by foreign service officers handing out visas for students, temporary foreign workers and visitors to Canada. Visa staff at 15 of the world’s busiest consulates walked off the job this week, following in the footsteps of their Canadian colleagues whose strike began in June after the federal government’s 2012 budget decision to close or consolidate citizenship and immigration offices in Canadian cities and around the world. You can read a great Wand article about how the situation is affecting students at the U of A here.

Alberta politicians are hitting the road! The Progressive Conservative caucus is spending the next three weekends visiting a number of areas in Alberta that are usually passed over on usual campaign stops.

Finally, the much-anticipated Heritage Days Festival kicks off Saturday. The annual three day event, which ends on Monday is a reminder of Edmonton’s cultural diversity and festival spirit. Be sure to check it out! More information can be found here. Furthermore, if you are attending, make sure to bring a food donation for Edmonton’s Food Bank. Heritage Days is actually the Food Bank’s biggest haul of the year so help them out! If you’re going camping, like many Edmontonians, the Edmonton Police Service would like to remind you to keep safe.